Summarise two learning theories

Summarise two recognized learning theories and explain their relevance to forest school. A learning theory can be defined as being a set of concepts which attempt to describe how people learn and develop (Dunn, 2000). Behaviourism.

This theory takes an objective approach to observing quantifiable events and behaviour and has a focus on measurable outcomes. Watson (1878-1958) suggested that our learning and behaviour are controlled by the experiences we are exposed to and our response to them. Behaviourism suggests:- •A teacher centred approach.

•A focus on observable changes in behaviour.•The learner is passive and reacting to external stimuli. •Behaviour is shaped through positive or negative reinforcement. •The teacher’s role is to provide information and supervise practice. •Teaching requires much repetition and small, progressive sequences of tasks. •Learning is the result of the combination of stimulus and response actions. •Incentives and rewards should be used for motivation.

•Repetition of experiences together with reinforcements has the most influence on learning. Behaviourist teaching methods are considered to be beneficial in teaching structured material such as facts and figures or vocabulary but less so when measuring someone’s comprehension or analytical abilities (Gray and MacBlain, 2012). Much emphasis is placed on the use of positive reinforcement to condition a response and this can be seen in schools today with the use of star charts, praise, rewards, and circle time. An example of a negative reinforcement that is often seen is the use of time out. In the forest school setting both positive and negative reinforcement are used regularly and are useful when it comes to emphasizing the importance of certain rules which need to be observed in order to keep everyone safe. As an example, when lighting a fire the leader will use a consistent approach, adhering to the same set of rules each time and always re-visiting these rules with...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...LearningTheories 1
Running head: LEARNINGTHEORIES AND THE CURRICULUM
LearningTheories and the Curriculum
LearningTheories 2
Lev Vygotsky, born in the U.S.S.R. in 1896, is responsible for the social development
theory of learning. He proposed that social interaction profoundly influences cognitive development. Vygotsky’s key point is his belief that biological and cultural development do not occur in isolation.
Vygotsky approached development differently from Piaget. Piaget believed that cognitive development consists of four main periods of cognitive growth: sensory motor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Piaget’s theory suggests that development has an endpoint in goal. Vygotsky, in contrast, believed that development is a process that should be analyzed, instead of a product to be obtained. Marcy P. Driscoll stated (as cited in Riddle, 1999) that “Vygotsky believes the development process that begins at birth and continues until death is too complex to be defined by stages”.
The major theme of Vygotsky’s theoretical framework is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Vygoysky states: “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first between...

...﻿Definitions: Learning is a change in behavior as a result of experience or practice. It is a process of gaining knowledge, or skill in, something through study, teaching, instruction or experience.
2. “the relatively permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behavior due to experience” (Mayer, 1982, p. 1040).
3. “an enduring change in behavior, or in the capacity to behave in a given fashion, which results from practice or other forms of experience” (Shuell, 1986, p. 412).
Learningtheories are grouped into three basic categories:
• Behaviorist learningtheories
• Cognitive-information processing learningtheories
• Cognitive-constructivist learningtheories
Behaviorism
Learning is a result of experience. We use knowledge of the results of past behaviour to change, modify and improve our behaviour in future. We cannot learn without appropriate feedback. Behaviourists and cognitive psychologists agree that experience affects behaviour but disagree over how this happens. Feedback may be either rewarding or punishing. This observation is encapsulated in the behaviourists" law of effect' which simply states that we learn to repeat behaviours that have favourable consequences and to avoid behaviours that lead to punishment or to other unfavourable or neutral consequences.
The American psychologist John B. Watson...

...Humanistic Theories of Learning:
I.
Introduction
Humanism, a paradigm that emerged in the 1960s, focuses on the human
freedom, dignity, and potential. A central assumption of humanism is that people act
with intentionality and values. Humanism would concentrate upon the development
of the child's self-concept. If the child feels good about him or herself then that is a
positive start. Feeling good about oneself would involve an understanding of ones'
strengths and weaknesses, and a belief in one's ability to improve. Learning is not
an end in itself; It is the means to progress towards the pinnacle of selfdevelopment. A child learns because he or she is inwardly driven, and derives his or
her reward from the sense of achievement that having learned something affords.
A primary purpose of humanism could be described as the development of
self-actualized, autonomous people. In humanism, learning is student centered and
personalized, and the educator’s role is that of a facilitator. Affective and cognitive
needs are keys, and the goal is to develop self-actualized people in a cooperative,
supportive environment.
II.
Humanistic Orientations to Learning
Humanistic theory as applied to learning is largely constructivist and
emphasizes cognitive and affective processes. Humanistic theories emphasize
people’s capabilities and potentialities...

...﻿Coursework 2: Learning Styles
Learning styles theory originated in the 1970’s and is based around the idea that people have preferences about how they like to learn. Theorists believe that each individual has a particular learning style that is best suited to them and allows them to collect and process information successfully in order to learn. The principle idea is that these learning style differ from one individual to the next and theorists argue that school teachers should incorporate these learning styles into their lessons so that student is catered for and everyone can learn effectively. Many educationalists believe that differences in learning styles are responsible for some student difficulties, for example, if a student is taught in a style they do not prefer they may not learn as successfully as those students being taught in their preferred style.
David Kolb is one of the main researchers who studied learning strategies and processes and put forward his idea of experimental learning. Kolb stated that;
“Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” (David A Kolb, 1984)
Kolb’s experimental learning model draws on the ‘Lewin Cycle of Adult learning’ and proposes that there are four stages which follow on from each other to complete the...

...﻿Discuss a view of learning introduced in this module. Relate this to the experience of students in higher education.
This assignment will address andragogy – a theory of learning. To do this it will focus on the specific areas of andragogy and compare them to other theories of learning. The theory of andragogy has been around for nearly two centuries and the findings are particularly linked to the work of Malcolm Knowles. The judgements will be related to the experiences of students in higher education.
The theory of adult learning is a “dynamic area of research and theory building.” (Merriam, 2008 p2). Malcolm Knowles explains that “andragogy assumes that the point at which an individual achieves a self concept of essential self-direction is the point at which he psychologically becomes adult.” (As cited by Atherton J. S, 2005 p1). Knowles (1970) sees andragogy as a contrast to pedagogy (the teaching of children) which he says is a “teacher dominated form of education, long regarded as appropriate for children’s learning, and [andragogy] a learner-centred one, now viewed as particularly relevant for non-traditional adult learners.” (Bartle, 2008 p1). Knowles explains andragogy to be the “art and science of helping adults learn” (as cited by Bartle, 2008 p1). He also argues that “adults were self-directed, problem...

...LearningTheories Link to Classroom
Induction
There are different factors which affect learning and could make a huge impact on learner achievement. It is important that these factors are addressed to enable a learner to maximise their chances of succeeding in their studies. Good and bad experiences can affect learning and could determine the learner’s failure or success. The theories of learning can be generally classed as humanist, cognitive, behaviourist, neo-behaviourist, andragogy and gestalt. Behaviourist, gestalt and cognitive theories of learning lays its emphasis on how children learn, however andragogy seems to be centred around how adults learn. Each of these learningtheories aims to explain the reasons for learning in different situations. It is essential, as teachers in the life-long learning sector, that we understand the complex nature of teaching which is supported by different theories of learning.
Main Body
Behaviourist Theory
Ivan Pavlov: Classical conditioning represents an extremely simple form of learning and it is why it is a good starting point for the investigation of the learning process. The model for classical conditioning is the Pavlovian dog experiment. Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who...

...other methods of synthesis, like realist reviews and meta-narrative[2] reviews, have been developed in recent years. Such secondary research uses the primary research of others typically in the form of research publications and reports.
In a market research context, secondary research is taken to include the re-use by a second party of any data collected by a first party or parties.
In archaeology and landscape history, desk research is contrasted with fieldwork.
Primary Research Vs Secondary Research
One of the major differences between the two is that primary research is conducted with the help of primary sources available where as secondary research is conducted on the basis of some data collected from someone who had got it from the sources.
Primary research is expensive to conduct since it involves primary sources. But secondary research is not much expensive as primary.
Another major difference between the two is that primary research is much more time consuming as compared to secondary research.
As a matter of fact the results found by the primary research are usually to have better quality than those from the conduct of the secondary research.
Primary research is also usually detailed and elaborated since it is supposed to be both qualitative as well as quantitative. On the other hand data pertaining to secondary research is usually not much detailed and elaborated since it involves indirect uses.
Primary...

...As centuries changes, so too does the learning styles of students’ changes. Hence different learningtheories such as behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism have been used to improve learning, performance and class involvement of student. Each of theories has distinctive features based on their individual perspectives of the learning process. In this essay, I will mainly discuss 3 things: 1) the main tenet of behaviorism and constructivism, 2) a comparison between cognitive and constructivism and 3) the implications that constructivism has for the classroom teacher with the central task of teaching.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is an approach which denies (with greater / lesser insistency) that consciousness has any relevance to the understanding of human behavior. Behavior is seen in terms of an identifiable and measurable response to external or internal, recognizable, and measurable stimuli. The response can be modified by rewards or various forms of discouragement- a process known as conditioning. The main theorist for behaviorism involves Ivan Pavlov, John Watson and B F skinner. Firstly, a main tenet of behaviorism is that the teacher is in control of the class hence it is more of a teacher centric learning. Based on the views of behaviorism , the teacher is the power house, which creates a teacher centric learning. Teacher-centric...